Sports
Jayasuriya mantra is working
by Rex Clementine
After the disappointment of the 1999 World Cup, where Sri Lanka failed to go beyond the first round, it was to Sanath Jayasuriya Sri Lanka Cricket turned to to put the team back on the track. In his own inimitable style, he turned things around for the team. In his first series, Sri Lanka beat world champions Australia in the tri-nation final and into the bargain recorded a first ever Test win over the Aussies.
Some 25 years later, with Chris Silverwood stepping down last month as Head Coach with Sri Lanka knocked out of the first round of the World Cup, it was to Sanath SLC turned again to oversee two tough series on an interim basis – India at home and England overseas. He has started off well.
After being appointed Head Coach, when Jayasuriya addressed a media briefing, he was thrown under the bus. He was asked whether he had any coaching experience before. Ravi Shastri had no prior coaching experience when he took over the Indian job but he went on to achieve the unimaginable by completing a series win in Australia. The last straw was the Aussies being beaten at The Gabba, one of their strongholds, in the series decider.
Shastri was no expert in teaching Rohit Sharma how to play the cover drive or give tips to Mohammed Siraj on how to reverse the old ball. Coaching cricket at the top level is hardly technical and mainly man management. That is what Sanath can do so well. He will be firm with the dodgers with a few choicy Sinhala words but would support those who require bit of attention and lot of affection. He will run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
At the outset, Sanath made it very clear that people who are representing the country need to show some respect for the national cap. Sadly, modern day cricketers think of themselves as models and not as role models. Studs came off and colouring of the hair stopped. Nothing can be done about the tattoos but for those who are breaking into the side at least, if Sanath remains they’ve got to get their priorities right.
We have been following the Australian system when it comes to coaching for a few years now. No doubts the Australian system has plenty of good things but some of those methods are irrelevant and unsuited for Sri Lanka. For example, the day before a game, it is optional training for the Aussies. David Warner can take a day off the day before a game, no doubt about it. But if 21-year-old Dunith Wellalage wants to take a break day prior to the game than there is a problem there.
It is so good to see that under Sanath Sri Lankan cricketers giving priority to training. The team has not been covering themselves in glory in recent years and there are so many areas you can improve on. Good on him for rectifying this key aspect.
Sanath also has been a very much hands-on coach. He has been clear with the kind of pitches and composition of the side he wants. He has been criticized for not playing on flat tracks. But by no means these have been bad wickets. These pitches have tested batters skill and temperament. Low scoring games are always thrillers.
Of course, at ICC events you get belters and the team could struggle. But given the low ebb the team is at the moment, doing well against a team like India will be a shot in the arm.
The teams are heading to RPS today with the series at stake. India are under tremendous pressure. They have not lost an ODI series to Sri Lanka since 1997.
At the start of the series, if someone had told you that Sri Lanka will be on the verge of a series win heading into the final game, many would have suggested that that person was daydreaming. Mind you this is an Indian side that included Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer. To humble such a formidable line up is sensational indeed. It is all due to hard work and meticulous planning.
That night when Sri Lanka tied the T-20 International at Pallekele and lost on Super Over, the team was crestfallen. So was Sanath. He didn’t let the emotions get the better of him. He travelled the same night to Colombo to work with the ODI players the following morning. That kind of commitment needs to be appreciated.
The players have been committed to the team. The energy they are showing on the field has not been seen before for a long time. These are all steps in the right direction.
This series will give Sri Lanka an enormous amount of self-belief. It will bring back the fans and sponsors. India have been giving us a hard time in recent years. Overcoming them will be the ultimate joy for there’s no better feeling in sports than beating the big brother.
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
Noor Ahmad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) left-arm wristspinner, continues to head the Purple Cap table with ten wickets from four games. His spell of 4 for 18 in CSK’s first game against MI, remains his best so far.
DC’s Mitchell Starc who picked up his maiden five-for in T20s, against SRH remains second on the list with nine wickets in three games.
GT’s Mohammed Siraj equalled Starc’s tally on Sunday night with his own IPL best, albeit he has played four games to Starc’s three. Siraj picked up 4 for 17 against SRH to hand them their four successive loss, and was named the Player of the Match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered another batting malfunction, this time on a slow, black-soil surface at home, crashing to their fourth successive defeat in IPL 2025. Having lost Travishek in the powerplay, SRH waited until the 13th over to see the first six of the innings, and managed only one more after that Mohammad Siraj caused irreparable damage right from the start, ending with his career-best IPL figures of 4 for 17.
Pat Cummins’ cameo (22* off nine balls) and then his dismissal of Jos Buttler for a duck in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) chase of 153 gave SRH some hope, but that faded away once Washington Sundar clattered 23 off nine balls in the powerplay. Earlier in the day, GT didn’t need Washington with the ball, but his attacking enterprise at No. 4 settled their chase on a slow pitch. Washington fell agonisingly short of a maiden IPL half-century, but his captain Shubman Gill ushered GT home, with an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls, along with Sherfane Rutherford.
Siraj had sparked the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to life when he gave Travis Head a send-off in Adelaide last December. Four months on, Siraj was bowling to Head for the first time in T20s, and the battle lasted just five balls. After Head scored two fours off Siraj, the fast bowler struck with his trademark wobble-seam delivery, having him chip a catch to midwicket for 8.
Abhishek Sharma hit four fours before Siraj had him miscuing a catch to mid-on in his third over of the powerplay. It was Siraj’s 100th wicket in the IPL and sixth in the powerplay, the most by a bowler in that phase so far this season, with an economy rate of 6.27.
Siraj then returned in the death to york both Aniket Verma, the last recognised batter for SRH, and Simarjeet Singh, their Impact Player.
With both Head and Abhishek gone early,Rashid Khan, who was coming into this game on the back of figures of 4-0-54-0, could afford to ease himself in. He started fairly well by giving away just 10 runs in his first two overs, but when he erred in length, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klassen dispatched him to the fence. Rashid finished with 4-0-31-0, going wicketless for a third successive game, and with tournament figures of 1 for 143 in 14 overs at an economy rate of 10.21
Left-arm fingerspinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, on the other hand, showed remarkable control over his length and variations. He claimed the big wicket of Klaasen by knocking him over with a quick dart, which skidded off the pitch, for 27 off 19 balls. Sai Kishore also had Reddy holing out for 31 off 34 balls and finished with 4-0-24-2.
That SRH passed 150 was down to Cummins’ late blows. He was the only SRH batter in the top eight to have a strike rate of over 160.
It appeared like GT had handed a franchise debut to Washington to primarily match his offspin up with SRH’s left-hander heavy top order. But with Siraj dominating the powerplay and Sai Kishore taking care of the middle overs, GT ended up not using his offspin.
Washington then walked out to bat at No. 4 after his childhood friend B Sai Sudarshan and Buttler fell cheaply in successive overs. Washington took advantage of the last over of the powerplay, smoking Simarjeet for two sixes and two fours. It provided a throwback to Washington of 2016, when he opened the batting, alongside Abhinav Mukund, in the TNPL and showed the intent to hit over the top. Just like that, Washington dumped SRH’s Impact Player out of the attack.
Washington continued to attack even after that. When the ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis darted one on the stumps with his right hand, Washington manufactured swinging room and laced him over extra-cover for four. Washington seemed set for a fifty until he holed out one shy of the landmark in the 14th over.
Gill, who had already crossed 50 by that point, finished the job along with Rutherford, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 16 balls.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 153 for 3 in 16.4 overs (Shubman Gill 61*, Washington Sundar 49, Sherfaine Rutherford 35*; Mohammed Shami 2-28, Pat Cumminss 1-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 152 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 18, Ishan Krishan 17, Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Heinrich Klassen 27, Aniket Verma 18,Pat Cummins 22*; Mohammed Siraj 4-17, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 2-24, Prasidh Krishna 2-25)by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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